Sesame Street Party! Loot Bags!

I love a good kids party... heck I love a good party!

I also love when you can make your Loot Bags and make them fun for the kids without breaking the bank and filling them with junk toys and junk food!

I didn't DIY all of the Loot Bag fillers this year like I have done in the past (click here to see those ones) but I did make sure that there wasn't too much candy filling up the kiddos after cake, cupcakes and lots of cookies... I put in a fruit snack and a candy skewer, and then rounded it out with Sesame Street Stickers, bubbles, a glow stick and a thank you photo of my boy!

For Max's Loot Bags I knew that as one of our kiddos favorite characters Cookie Monster would be the star and I wanted them to be easy to make as well so I set out with my trusty scalloped edge circle cutter and a few brown paper bags to make my own Loot Bags as I have before! This was beyond EASY! I punched out a few Cookie Monster Blue scalloped edge circles and added a few crazy eyes, and a huge black smile then it was as easy as gluing Cookie to the the bag and filling them up...

I made the candy skewers myself and picked up the candy at the bulk store for about $8.00 and had enough for  9 skewers and some extra (ok a lot extra) for snaking at the house and on a quick road trip to visit family....

The skewers them selves were $1 at the dollarama (the bag had about 100 in it and while about 4 or 5 were cracked or split and unusable I guarantee I wont ever use the whole bag!)

To make the skewers I just threaded the candy on the skewer in a pattern and covered it with a sandwich bag (you know the type, the ones that fold over that you pick up by mistake when you are reaching for the zip up kind but not paying enough attention at the store...) then add a ribbon around and you have a quick easy Loot Bag filler!

As for the Photo I edited a snap of my boy in Picasa (It's my preferred editor) or you can do it in any of the online editors you use, then email to Walmart! I usually just add Thanks for celebrating my __ birthday with me... or Thanks for making my __ birthday special... or any cute saying I like to include the year so that it becomes more of a keepsake then just a thank you note. Now this where it can get a little expensive. I usually print about 30 photos as I want to have enough to put in the Loot Bags and you need a few extra for the adults at the party too... goodness knows that Nanny and Poppy need one and so does great aunt whats-her-name, and what about that old friend so-and-so. But at 19 cents a print its still not too bad, at just $5.70 (plus taxes) its a nice gesture to say thanks to kids and grown ups alike that attended your party and brought a gift.

So the price break down for each Loot Bag....

Paper bag: 0.02 (packaged 50/$1)

Photo:  0.19 (each)

Bubbles: 0.25 (packaged 4/$1)

Glow Stick: 0.19 (packaged 6/$1)

Stickers: 0.33 (packaged 6 sheets/$2)

Fruit snacks:0.33 (packaged 12 packets/$4)

Candy Skewers: 0.51 (Skewers 100/$1 Candy Bulk 8.00 for WAY more than enough!)

This years Loot Bags came in at roughly $1.79 per bag.... not to shabby if you ask me! 

Now you may look at this and say that's all you put in your Loot Bags? But keep in mind that you just loaded those kids down with not only cake, cupcakes, cookies and lunch but also a prize for the lucky cup and plate, a prize for each game, and a pinata! Trust me its ENOUGH!


What do you put in your Loot Bags? Do you skip them all together? I'd love to hear about your party and your Loot Bags in the comments!

Sesame Street Party! DIY Balloon Wreath!

So as you likely already know Max celebrated his BIG FIRST BIRTHDAY this past weekend if you follow Momma Made It on Facebook you may also know that Max had a party on Sunday that was Sesame Street Themed! (Yes I like theme parties and yes I start them young!)

So as with all parties (which you can see here, and here) I like to make some if not all the decorations as well as the cake and the food and the invites and the list goes on... so since both our kids have August birthdays I have been crafting and DIYing for months trying to get everything just right...

One of the first things that I wanted to make was one of those cool Balloon Wreaths, with the logic that 1)It looks awesome and 2)I can reuse it every year no matter the theme.

So I pinned one (similar to the one above) on Pinterest and thought nothing of it until it was time to get crafting.

However when you click HERE to check out the cool project and start to DIY it wasn't quite what I thought.... you actually buy a straw wreath and floral pins then pin the balloons into the wreath....

Well since I couldn't find a straw wreath in my budget (yeah that means at the dollarama) I bought this ugly thing that apparently keeps up flowers that you plant in your garden... I have a black thumb and don't plant so clearly I needed to find a new use for it.

So away I went with bags and bags of assorted sized of balloons, this interesting thing and an IDEA!

Once home I (and by I, I mean Robyn) sorted all the assorted balloons into color groups.

 Then I actually tied each balloon around the wire hoop....

From there you just alternate colors and and keep tying... I watched a whole episode of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe while doing this, it goes quick and doesn't take any more skill then tying a knot... I found that the assorted sizes made for more interesting texture on the wreath, some are large and some are flat and some are the twisting balloons... its just more FUN!

Soon you end up with this... and you can jazz it up a little by wrapping a pipe cleaner around the wreath and twisting the end so that it is a bit more forward than your balloons...

Then it's just hang it at your party and enjoy how pretty it is and all the complements on it when you tell friends, family and other adoring mothers that "Yes I made it and it was so easy!"

So even though its not your traditional balloon wreath I think it looks good and will as I hoped suit any party we have for Max in the future... I can see it now.... Lego, or Rainbow, or The Very hungry Caterpillar or Pirates or, or, oh man do I dread the day when the kids don't want to have theme parties anymore....

Do you DIY your party decor? or do you DIY/ make it your own other DIY projects for your kids parties? Share your party ideas in the comments I'd love to hear all about your theme parties!

PS Look for a full over view of the party before the Weekend and then more DIY projects next week!